Patrick: State House plan shortchanges transit beyond Boston

Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday said State House leaders’ $500 million alternative to his major transportation plan would require people who live in cities and towns beyond Boston to pay more in gas taxes, tolls and fares without seeing much, if any, local benefit.

Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday said State House leaders’ $500 million alternative to his major transportation plan would require people who live in cities and towns beyond Boston to pay more in gas taxes, tolls and fares without seeing much, if any, local benefit.

Patrick has sharply criticized the legislative leadership’s plan since Thursday. He kept up the pressure Friday, making his case to news media across the state and repeating his vow to veto the legislative proposal if lawmakers pass it as is.

The governor stressed the State House plan means less money for regional transit, commuter rail, road repairs and other transportation improvements across Massachusetts.

"In many ways, this bill is a return to a type of politics here on Beacon Hill that got us into this mess to begin with – a kind of pretend solution instead of a real solution that pushes off the real solution until another day," he said in a conference call with reporters.

At the same time, the governor said he is flexible on the price tag of a state transportation plan and on how to fund it, and hopes to find common ground with legislative leaders.

"I want a compromise," he said. "I hope this is a process and not the end."

"There are sort of two groups (of legislators) that are similar to where the public is: the folks that want no increase in revenue at all are not happy and the folks who wanted more are not happy," said Rep. Danielle Gregoire, D-Marlborough.

"I often find that when nobody’s 100 percent happy, we’ve found a plan that might be the right one," she said.

Patrick earlier this year proposed raising an additional $1.9 billion a year for transportation and education initiatives, largely by raising the state income tax by a percentage point while trimming the sales tax. The plan from House and Senate leaders would instead hike the gas tax 3 cents a gallon, along with cigarette taxes, to the tune of $500 million a year to shore up transportation funding.

Patrick slammed the plan on Friday as neither fair nor sufficient to address transit problems in the long term.

"The fact that the (regional transit authorities) will achieve forward funding is great. My priority moving forward will be to protect Metrowest commuters, particularly in the area of tolls," Sannicandro wrote in a prepared statement.

But other legislators, such as Rep. Chris Walsh, D-Framingham, worry the more modest plan puts off needed long-term projects.

"In Framingham, we’ve talked about regional equity and transportation for a long time and I think this actually sticks to that, but what I think you’re missing from this is that really big picture of where we want to be in 25 years and what we have to put into the system to get that," said Walsh.

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"That doesn’t presuppose that that conversation will not happen, just not here, not now," he added.

Joining Patrick on Friday, state Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said the legislative plan probably would require higher toll and fare hikes over time than the governor’s proposal because it does not resolve a long-term transportation deficit.

Patrick’s plan called for 5-percent toll increases every two years, but Davey said toll hikes as high as 30 percent would be required by 2016 under the State House proposal. Patrick also predicted commuter rail service cuts and higher fares over time.

Under the governor’s plan, regional transit authorities would split about $100 million a year in additional operating revenue while receiving additional money to upgrade their fleets and facilities. The legislative plan would deliver about $12 million in its first year without any additional money for capital improvements or service upgrades, Davey said.

The legislative proposal would not fund major projects in Patrick’s plan, including the extension of commuter rail to New Bedford and expanding the subway’s Green Line.

"It wasn’t just an aggregation of everybody’s favorite things," Patrick said of the projects in his proposal, but "strategic choices."

The governor said he would continue talking to state lawmakers, but acknowledged House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray control their chambers tightly.

"They get what they want," he said.

Patrick said he is not opposed to seeing a gas tax as part of a final transportation package, but that the legislative leadership’s plan gives many state residents no improvement in services for the extra cost.

"You’ve got to be able to show people they’re going to get something," he said.

(David Riley can be reached at 508-626-4424 or driley@wickedlocal.com.)